Accepted to UC Berkeley and USC for business. Which would you choose?

College Majors Business Major
81

<p>All UCs are similar--ha,ha--that's a good one.</p>

<p>Yep, let's compare UC Merced with UC Berkeley, too--just because one has 6 more Nobel Prize winners and 170 more Fulbright scholars and ranks in the top 10 in all its professional programs and has 5 times as large a campus, and has been around 130 years longer and the average SAT scores are about 300 to 400 points higher and the average weighted GPA of incoming students is about 4.2 versus 3.3--yep, probably doesn't matter.</p>

<p>I suppose while we're at it we can do that at other large state universities--I'm sure Penn State--Erie compares to Penn State--College Park, and Indiana University--South Bend compares to Indiana University--Bloomington, and oh, let's not forget University of Colorado--Denver (which USNW ranks as third tier) I'm sure it is equivalent to University of Colorado--Boulder, which is ranked first tier.</p>

82

<p>There are plenty of Goldman Sachs employees (UCLA alumns) who volunteer to speak at UCLA.</p>

<p>Last few weeks, I called a UCLA alum from Citi and a UCLA alum from Merill Lynch and talked to me for half an hour to an hour about their profession.</p>

83

<p>
[quote]
Let's say that I apply for a job after graduating from Haas, and the person that makes the final decision is a USC graduate. Do you think that if it comes down to me and a USC alumnus, the employeer would hire the fellow Trojan despite the prestige of Haas?

[/quote]
</p>

<p>JSR, to give you a short answer: YES.</p>

<p>Provided the sc appicant doesn't totally suck at the interview, have a 2.0 Gpa, or pee on the interviewer's door, he would have an edge over you simply b/c usc grads tend to be loyal to fellow trojans; he'll naturally have a favorable bias towards the SC alum. Call it nepotism. Call it overt favoritism or whatever the hell you want. </p>

<p>In reality, though, your scenario is too general to give an accurate response...what firm/position are you applying for? How qualified are you compared with him for the particular job(gpa, work experience, social skills, etc.)? Are you a better fit for the company than him? factors like that are very relevant..</p>

<p>But all things being equal, in most hiring situations the SC applicant would have a HUGE edge, mainly because the employer knows he'll probably get along better wth him than with you. Think it's unfair? well it doesn't really matter what you, i, or anyone else on this thread thinks, it's just how the world works. The fact is there's nepotism for every college in america, and it's especially true at USC.</p>

<p>In most hiring situations, the strong alumni connection will outweigh the arguable slight edge in haas' "prestige."</p>

<p>FOR EVERYONE ELSE IN THIS THREAD: produce some hard evidence to back your claims. You know, we all hav a right to opine about prestige, recruiting, faculty quality, and other matters, and that's great. But the fact is we are ALL BIASED in some way or another, and our opinions carry little weight unless there's meaningful evidence. Even a little proof is better than claiming "well i have a friend who told me this-and-that.."</p>

84

<p>Yes Yes.
If we don't like USC, we're biased..</p>

<p>I know your pride, but don't get too hostile.</p>

85

<p>
[quote]
Yes Yes.
If we don't like USC, we're biased..</p>

<p>I know your pride, but don't get too hostile.

[/quote]

Yes Yes.
merumerum, you're a genius. That's exactly what i said, word for word...Way to twist my words around, smart guy</p>

<p>I said "WE are ALL BIASED in some way or another," WE meaning everybody (whether you like usc or not) including me and the pro-usc ppl. The last i checked, I admitted to being biased in my first post in this thread, and am the only person here who's done so. </p>

<p>I'll repeat, the fact is WE ARE ALL BIASED. Yes, that means you too merumerume whether you admit to it or not. And being biased is absolutely fine, provided you're not pretentious about it and have some reasonable backing to your claims.</p>

<p>What i was saying earlier was just that: producing some hard evidence to back your claims. Is that too much to ask? Isn't hard evidence more helpful and credible than this endless he-said-she-said bantering?</p>

<p>So the next time you condenscendingly tell someone else how to post, try NOT to twist his words around and NOT to misinterpret his meaning before doing so, genius.</p>

86

<p>
[quote]
Penn State--College Park

[/quote]
</p>

<p>I don't trust anyone who confuses University of Maryland-COLLEGE PARK with Penn State-UNIVERSITY PARK.</p>

<p>:D</p>

87

<p>
[quote]
There are plenty of Goldman Sachs employees (UCLA alumns) who volunteer to speak at UCLA.

[/quote]

Trojanman, you told me to prove it. So here's two examples.</p>

<p><a href="http://www.studentgroups.ucla.edu/uis/%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.studentgroups.ucla.edu/uis/&lt;/a>
<a href="http://www.studentgroups.ucla.edu/nscs/otherevents.htm%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.studentgroups.ucla.edu/nscs/otherevents.htm&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>And if you're going to make me replicate the phone calls to Citi and Merill contacts I found in the directory, then I will make MrTrojanMan replicate his findings of the McKinsey USC alum.</p>

88

<p>sorry to bust your bubble, but those links are kind of unimpressive. you see, when GS comes to our campus they come to hire us. not to talk about investmenst or how to make the most of our summer internships. but if you would like to see something impressive, check out the other firms who also come to hire us:</p>

<p><a href="http://careers.usc.edu/cgi-bin/calendar/calendar.pl?calendar=Profiles&month=8&month=1%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://careers.usc.edu/cgi-bin/calendar/calendar.pl?calendar=Profiles&month=8&month=1&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>the best of the best come to USC all yr long</p>

89

<p>Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs, Lehman Brothers, UBS are some ibanks that recruit at UCLA. The Big Four accounting firms recruit at UCLA. </p>

<p><a href="http://career.ucla.edu/CareerFairs/ArchivesPreviousUCLACareerCenterCareerFairs.asp%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://career.ucla.edu/CareerFairs/ArchivesPreviousUCLACareerCenterCareerFairs.asp&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>If you check the company websites, Bain Consulting and Boston Consulting recruit at UCLA.</p>

<p><a href="http://www.bain.com/bainweb/join_bain/school_popup.asp?school_id=49&page_id=5%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.bain.com/bainweb/join_bain/school_popup.asp?school_id=49&page_id=5&lt;/a>
<a href="http://www.bcg.com/careers/bcg_on_campus/AreaSelection/school_general.jsp?ID=868%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.bcg.com/careers/bcg_on_campus/AreaSelection/school_general.jsp?ID=868&lt;/a>
If you run the search for USC, you will find that Boston does not recruit at USC, as only recruited schools have their own website.
<a href="http://www.bcg.com/careers/bcg_on_campus/AreaSelection/area3.jsp?school=rsity+of+Southern+California&action=search&x=32&y=13%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.bcg.com/careers/bcg_on_campus/AreaSelection/area3.jsp?school=rsity+of+Southern+California&action=search&x=32&y=13&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>Although this thread is getting off topic because it is Cal vs USC, not UCLA vs USC.</p>

90

<p>Okay, so let me get this straight...</p>

<p>You can get a great job coming out of USC.
You can get a great job coming out of Cal.
You can get a great job coming out of UCLA.</p>

<p>The major companies recruit at UCLA
The major companies recruit at Cal
The major companies recruit at USC</p>

<p>So what in the hell are we yapping about again?</p>

91

<p>
[quote]
and i mean uc profs in general, and the general uc way of doing things.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>That's pretty ridiculous. Here's what I imagine- you encountered about 20 profs or so maximum at UCI, heard about 100 or thereabouts from people you know at UCI and elsewhere, and that's a generous figure, probalby not experiencing many at other campuses, and you know more than half of at least . . . let me see . . . 8,163 or so people operate. Let's even say 1,000, heck, 2,000 of them don't teach- and it's almost certainly far less than that, far, far, less- you think you know how more than 3,000 professors at 9 different campuses "do things?"</p>

<p><a href="http://www.ucop.edu/acadadv/datamgmt/ladd2005s.pdf%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.ucop.edu/acadadv/datamgmt/ladd2005s.pdf&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>I'm with UCLAri generally.</p>

92

<p>I think the reason some of us have a hard time relating UC Irvine to UC Berkeley is simple--admissions to these two do not compare. In addition to the stats put out by the University of California's president's office (<a href="http://www.ucop.edu)%5B/url%5D"&gt;www.ucop.edu)&lt;/a>, there is also the fact that the Princeton Review puts out a book titled "The Best 361 Colleges"--in which you can find UCB, UCLA, UCD, UCSC, UCSD, UCR, UCSB--and even USC, but no UC Irvine. It's kind of hard to rank the schools in the same category for this reason.</p>

<p>Oh, and futurenyustudent, I think you are right; I should know the difference between Penn State and Maryland's campuses--especially considering I lived close to College Park in Maryland about ten years ago. But I never understood why it is that if Penn State's main campus is in the city of "State College" they call it "University Park". This seems too weird, even for me.</p>

93

<p>Calcruzer,</p>

<p>Well, to be fair, just because UCI isn't listed by Princeton Review doesn't mean that it's not great. I mean, it's pretty hard to argue that UCI doesn't have a variety of programs at least as good as UCR's.</p>

94

<p>
[quote]
Okay, so let me get this straight...</p>

<p>You can get a great job coming out of USC.
You can get a great job coming out of Cal.
You can get a great job coming out of UCLA.</p>

<p>The major companies recruit at UCLA
The major companies recruit at Cal
The major companies recruit at USC

[/quote]

No argument there.</p>

<p>You're right: usc, ucla, cal, ucsd and uci are all great schools, or else i wouldn't have considered matriculating to each one at one point or another.<br>

[quote]
So what in the hell are we yapping about again?

[/quote]

I believe we were yapping about how Marshall's networking and job placement is superior to those of Haas'.</p>

<p>Like someone said earlier, if you're talented enough to get into Haas and marshall, you're probably talented enough to nab a great job coming out of most schools. The trojan network just might make that task easier for you and add some insurance.</p>

<p>About the overall UC faculty quality: the UCs do bear obvious similarities in that 1)they're all public schools receiving state funds 2)they're all part of the same UC school system 3) with the exception of newcomer Merced they all bear a large student population </p>

<p>However, i believe there has to be a difference in the faculty quality between schools like Cal and Merced. I mean, there's just no way the latter can compare. Other school like ucR and ucI might be more similar but i'm sure different people will tell you differnt things.</p>

<p>About the "prestige" factor of Haas and Marshall: the main reason why i think it's so debatable is the quality of students. Despite having a larger population, Marshall ugs have higher average SAT scores than Haas': 1351 to 1341. Additionally, the overall USC SAT average is higher than any UC.</p>

<p>While this evidence doesn't prove that Marshall's program is more "prestigious," it does serve as one indication for the intellectual capacity of our students vs. those in other schools.</p>

95

<p>
[quote]
About the "prestige" factor of Haas and Marshall: the main reason why i think it's so debatable is the quality of students. Despite having a larger population, Marshall ugs have higher average SAT scores than Haas': 1351 to 1341. Additionally, the overall USC SAT average is higher than any UC

[/quote]
</p>

<p>And when you take into account best scores in each section in multiple sittings, how do you think the SAT averages change? Yes, I would guess far in favor of Haas, but I'm just speculating here, speculation which is probably true for 20-50 points on average at Berkeley or UCLA.</p>

96

<p>
[quote]
And when you take into account best scores in each section in multiple sittings, how do you think the SAT averages change? Yes, I would guess far in favor of Haas, but I'm just speculating here, speculation which is probably true for 20-50 points on average at Berkeley or UCLA.

[/quote]

I have no idea how you figure that. That may be the most unfounded "guess" in this entire thread.</p>

<p>Last year, the average SAT for entering admits at Marshall ug was 1351 vs. Haas' 1341. THOSE ARE FACTS. Everything else is indeed speculation, which is more or less worthless without legit backing.</p>

<p>I can speculate that Marshall students would've all scored 1600s had they taken it one more time, but would you believe me? You can speculate all you want, but where is your evidence?</p>

97

<p>Trojanman720,</p>

<p>This isn't something that is only speculation. It's been shown in many cases when comparing scores to be true.</p>

<p>Plus it just makes sense.</p>

<p>Besides 1341 vs 1351 is statistically insignificant. It's not even a standard deviation.</p>

98

<p>
[quote]
Trojanman720,</p>

<p>This isn't something that is only speculation. It's been shown in many cases when comparing scores to be true.

[/quote]

Again, with the vague reference. Sorry UCLAri, but "many cases" doesn't quite do it for me: produce some hard evidence--a study, an article, anything--proving that Cal's score would be far more favorably affected and i'll believe you.</p>

<p>
[quote]
Plus it just makes sense.

[/quote]

Well in that case, you win the debate..i'll pack up and leave.

[quote]
Besides 1341 vs 1351 is statistically insignificant. It's not even a standard deviation.

[/quote]

I acknowledge it's not the biggest difference in the world, but the fact is that 1351>1341, and USC's overall SAT average > any UC. </p>

<p>And it does become more and more "statistically significant" as the number of admits rise and the average score rises.</p>

<p>Again, i'm not saying this proves SC is more prestigious, but it does serve as a legit indication for the intellectual capacity of this school.</p>

99

<p>Trojanman,</p>

<p>While I scrounge through my many links, think about it for a second. If a school takes the HIGHEST scores on particular sections out of two tests and combines them, instead of just a composite test, who does that benefit, score wise? </p>

<p>The student. </p>

<p>It just makes sense that you're going to see scores higher at schools who partake in the practice.</p>

100

<p>Oh, i see. I was under the impression that USC also uses the best single sitting score instead of the highest combined score from multiple sittings. </p>

<p>In that case, USC/Marshall's score would indeed be inflated, and make it hard to judge and compare with Haas'...</p>